Throughout the 2007 season, we will run a story previewing Arizona State's next upcoming opponent through the view of a beat writer covering that team. This week, Chris Nguon from BearTerritory.net was kind enough to take time out to give Arizona State fans insight into their next opponent, the California Golden Bears.

How fragile is the emotional state of the Golden Bears following the back-to-back losses?

They'd be lying if they said their confidence is sky high right now. Cal left Autzen Stadium three weeks ago after beating Oregon with more swagger than this program has had in years. In contrast, they left the Rose Bowl last weekend wondering what exactly had gone wrong after so much had gone right.

The Bears certainly took the defeat by the hands of the Bruins hard Saturday evening, with middle linebacker Worrell Williams even stating right after the game that Cal had nothing more to play this season for but its "pride." But, with a couple days to sit back, take a deep breath and look at where they stand, the players and coaches have sort of regained a sense of confidence as they head into the desert.

The Bears understand that they still have a great opportunity at hand and that with a little help, the Pac-10 title is still within reach. Senior wide receiver Robert Jordan stated earlier in the week that he has always felt Cal teams had no problem "getting up" for big games. With the way Arizona State has been playing this season, Saturday night's tilt in Tempe would certainly qualify as such.